Leading real hands on tech review site in Ireland with technology, business news and more. Jim O Brien Tech.
Author: Jim O Brien/CEO
CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.
We have got out hands on the Nokia 6 dual sim and have been using it for a few days now and we wanted to check it out first and load it up with apps before we take a closer look at it. So far its been quite impressive and especially the camera and it been working fine with plenty of apps on board and the usual social media accounts and so on..
Build quality here is quite good and it feels solid in the hand and it also looks well its got some familiar traits of old too but overall its solid which is important,the screen is big which is good for media consumption however a bit on the dark side I find in fact similar to the Blackberry KeyOne but its no big deal for me. I will be testing this further over the coming weeks and using it as my daily driver so it will be interesting to see how it goes over time with the heavy usage I tend to give my devices. For now so far so good but time will shed a light no doubt, It is good though to finally sport a device I can use with the Nokia logo atop and so far any that have seen it like it too. With a 5.5 inch screen, 3000 mAh battery and built-in fingerprint scanner on the home key, 16 MP shooter has it enough? Any questions fire away below or get me on social. We still have no date for launch in Ireland yet but the Nokia 3 is set to launch August 2nd if you cant wait or dont want to spend some more on your next phone that has that famous Nokia branding.
With cybercriminals costing the global economy £345 billion last year alone, Digital threat management leader RiskIQ has examined the growing volume of malicious activity on the Internet to reveal the inaugural ‘Evil Internet Minute’. In a single evil internet minute, close to £656,393 is lost to cybercrime and 1,080 people fall victim. Despite businesses’ best efforts to guard against external cyber threats, spending up to £109,942 in 60 seconds, bad actors continue to proliferate online.
Colin Verrall, VP EMEA, RiskIQ comments, “As the Internet and its community continues to grow at pace, some people have been trying to make the vast numbers associated with it more accessible by framing them in the context of an ‘Internet Minute’. As the same growth applies to cybercrime, similarly, we have framed malicious Internet activity, leveraging the latest research as well as our own intelligence to define the darker happenings across the web in 60 seconds.”
The threats are complex with tactics ranging from malware to phishing, and intentions including monetary gain, inflicting large scale reputational damage or perhaps even to entertain. Cyber criminals continue to find success deploying tactics from 818 pieces of unique malware, 1214 ransomware attacks and over 100,000 phishing emails in just one evil internet minute.
RiskIQ’s research has also uncovered additional malicious activity, ranging from blacklisted mobile apps to malvertising:
New blacklisted mobile apps: 0.3 per minute
New phishing pages: 100 per minute
Malvertising: 14.5 incidents per minute
Pirate content: 4,300 people globally exposed to malware from content theft sites per minute
Colin Verrall, VP EMEA, RiskIQ comments, “Sophisticated cyber criminals continue to expand their digital armoury, lurking behind more online activity than we might expect. Websites, emails, mobile apps, online videos or even digital advertisements; all have become regular methods of entry for malicious online activity. The digital footprint of a business is always larger than perceived and with such happenings, control is often relinquished. It is crucial then for organisations to be aware of their entire digital footprint and make it a priority to close any critical security gaps. It is only way to adequately secure a business, its employees and customers.”
Black Duck, the global leader in automating the security and management of open source software, today announced a new technology collaboration with Pivotal® and the launch of its Black Duck Hub product as an integrated service for Pivotal Cloud Foundry®, one of the world’s most powerful cloud-native platforms. This is the first open source-focused security management integration with Pivotal Cloud Foundry, enabling enterprise customers to embrace open source in their applications with automated visibility, intelligence, and control.
Black Duck and Pivotal have collaborated to integrate Black Duck Hub and Pivotal Cloud Foundry to deliver a Secure DevOps process and user experience for building and deploying applications to Pivotal Cloud Foundry.
Enterprise customers can find Black Duck as a tile on the Pivotal Network.
Black Duck Hub Service Broker enables the integrated use of Hub with Pivotal Cloud Foundry. Black Duck Hub interacts with the Pivotal Cloud Foundry build and application deployment process (‘cf push’) to automatically scan, analyse, and monitor applications and their contents.
Enterprise customers can automate their Black Duck scans with third-party Continuous Integration (CI) tools such as Jenkins, Bamboo, Team City, and Microsoft VSTS/TFS.
Enterprise customers can deploy Black Duck Hub product either in their private cloud or in a public cloud, such as Google Cloud.
Using Black Duck Hub, enterprise customers can automatically identify all the open source components; detect and analyse known security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and code quality risks; and enable policy management to control risks and their remediation. Additionally, Hub dynamically monitors the scanned code and provides alerts on newly discovered vulnerabilities or policy violations. Enterprise customers can also use Hub to access Black Duck KnowledgeBase™, the world’s most comprehensive data store of open source components and risk intelligence.
“Open source comprises 80 to 90 percent of the components in a modern cloud-native application. Integration of Black Duck Hub with Pivotal Cloud Foundry provides automated visibility and control into that open source,” said Black Duck CEO Lou Shipley. “This helps increase enterprises’ confidence to increase their production deployment of cloud-native applications.”
“Fortune 2000 companies are facing tremendous pressure to build and deliver cloud-native applications – faster, on a larger scale, and at lower cost,” said Nima Badiey, Head of Business Development, Pivotal Cloud Foundry. “Combining Black Duck Hub with Pivotal Cloud Foundry helps our customers automate the security and licensing processes in their application deployment pipelines, enabling agility and innovation at cloud-native speeds.”
Availability
The integrated solution is available for Pivotal customers. Pivotal Cloud Foundry users can find Black Duck Hub Service Broker on the Pivotal Network.
Use of Black Duck Hub with Pivotal Cloud Foundry requires an active Hub license from Black Duck.
In addition to the new integrated solution for Pivotal Cloud Foundry users, Black Duck today announced that Pivotal has become a Black Duck Hub customer for Pivotal’s internal use. Pivotal uses Hub as part of its internal Pivotal Cloud Foundry development and security processes to help secure and manage open source components in the Cloud Foundry project.
Award winning specialist audio manufacturer 1MORE today introduces its H1707 Triple Driver Over-Ear Headphones to the UK. The headphones feature advanced Piezo ceramic driver technology and audiophile, oxygen free, copper wiring to ensure a high fidelity listening experience.
With audiophile cabling and phenomenal build quality, the H1707 headphones look as good as they sound!
1MORE uses the latest patented designs and materials to enhance sound, comfort and aesthetic appeal. From aerospace grade materials to genuine Swarovski crystals, 1MORE takes no shortcuts to maintain a standard of modern excellence in both function and form.
Expertly tuned by Grammy Award winning sound engineer Luca Bignardi, the 1MORE H1707 headphones feature a Piezo driver which, when combined with a 40mm aerospace grade composite driver and a powerful, fast bass reflex, deliver a high frequency resolution extension that reaches up to 40kHz for high resolution files. This technology has been recognised by the High Resolution Association of Japan who have given official certification to the H1707 headphones to replay high resolution (better than cd quality) music.
Not only do the H1707 headphones feature great technology, they have also been manufactured using top quality materials. The black and gold machined metal complement each other perfectly whilst the sturdy but comfortable ear clamps with luxurious padding, echo that of a high end sports car, allowing for long listening sessions without any discomfort. The clamps can also be folded inwards and also rotated inwards by 45° so the headphones can fit snugly into the included high quality case and internal bag whilst travelling.
Special consideration has also gone into the cabling used, with a 99.99 oxygen free copper wiring with left and right independent channel, straight through design and a tough non tangle Kevlar sleeve ensuring a lower transmission loss and higher fidelity listening experience.
Available for just £199.99, the 1MORE H1707 Triple Driver over-ear headphones deliver a spectacular sound at amazing value when compared to other headphones of similar specifications available in the market. 1MORE are proud to be superior to the industry standard.
The 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones are available for £199.99 from http://uk.1more.com
Hot on the heels of their recent FUZE Studio for Nintendo Switch announcement, FUZE Technologies Ltd are extremely proud to announce an exciting new collaboration with ASUSTeK.
Launched in 2013, FUZE Technologies set out with one goal – to make coding as easy and accessible as possible for everyone. Since then, the FUZE team has achieved great success in teaching young people how to code using the FUZE personal computer and their accessible, easy to use programming language FUZE Studio.
FUZE is now proud to announce two new models to their FUZE Workstation range powered by the recently announced ASUS Tinker Board.Additionally the ‘powered by’ ASUS Tinker Board editions have replaced the Raspberry Pi versions of the FUZE Workshop units used across the
country in schools and STEM events.Matt Stewart, ASUS Product Manager commented “ASUS recognise that learning to code is incredibly valuable; we’re really excited to be working with FUZE and bringing the ASUS Tinker Board into UK schools.”
The new units are, the FUZE-TB-R priced at £249.99 including VAT. It comes complete and ready torun out of the box. Included is the FUZE Special Edition case & keyboard, ASUS Tinker Board, FUZE IO Board with built in analog, 16GB boot SD card, the FUZE Component pack, solderless electronics breadboard, mouse and mouse mat, 250 page reference guide (PDF), worksheets (PDF) and the ever popular USB Robot Arm kit.
About the ASUS Tinker Board: The ASUS Tinker Board is a Single Board Computer (SBC) in an ultra-small form factor that offers class-leading performance while leveraging outstanding mechanical compatibility. The Tinker Board offers makers, IoT enthusiasts, hobbyists, PC DIY enthusiasts and others a reliable and extremely capable platform for building and tinkering their ideas into reality.
Specifications:
CPU Rockchip Quad-Core RK3288 processor
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR3
Graphic Integrated Graphics Processor ARM® Mali™-T764 GPU*1
Storage Micro SD(TF) card slot
LAN RTL GB LAN, Wireless Data Network, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth V4.0 + EDR
Audio RTL ALC4040 CODEC
USB Ports 4 x USB 2.0
Internal I/O 1 x 40-pin header(GPIO, SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, 5V, 3.3V, GND, S/PDIF, DSI, CSI
The second unit is the FUZE-TB-D priced at £149.99 including VAT. Included is the FUZE Special
Edition case & keyboard, ASUS Tinker Board, FUZE IO Board with built in analog, 16GB boot SD card, solderless electronics breadboard, reference guide (PDF) and worksheets (PDF).
“The ASUS Tinker Board perfectly complements the FUZE’s existing design and dramatically improves performance. Running FUZE it’s roughly twice as fast as the Raspberry Pi editions and has far superior audio hardware and RAM capacity. The Tinker Board enhances the FUZE’s learning capabilities, and partnered with FUZE Studio, provides the ideal environment to learn and ‘tinker’ with coding, gaming, audio, electronics, robotics and more.”
Stated Jon Silvera, CEO of FUZE Technologies Ltd.
A multi-award winning and highly accessible coding workstation, the FUZE is intended for students of all ages and also for teachers and parents. Anyone learning to code on the FUZE will find out that real, text based coding is not as complicated as they may have thought. FUZE’s unique method ensures children as young as six can learn to code using a real text based language, setting them up to eventually move onto more complex languages such as Python and Java.
It requires no previous experience, and is a self-contained coding and electronics workstation that will keep kids, and adults, motivated and wanting to learn more.
FUZE Studio is the perfect stepping stone between visual coding simulators currently usedin most primary schools and realworldlanguages like Python, Java and C++/# etc. FUZE Studio comes
with everything you need to learn to code in one app. Users can
code their own games and share the experience with friends and family. Tutorials are included, as is a 250 page reference guide.
One reason for FUZE’s success in educating young people to code is the wealth of support content included and to download. Worksheets, projects and a very comprehensive reference guide are all
included and more are being added all the time.
Not the news some folk wanted with from Nokia with the upcoming Nokia 8 but we dont do rumors…
Today there is two new mobiles to join the growing list of Nokia phones which is the Nokia 105 and the Nokia 130 which are candybar styled devices and simple feature phones,not smartphones so they will be on the cheap and will appeal to those whom want something simple and merging markets and there is still plenty of normal folk who want such devices just to get away from it all and have enough to do to keep them occupied,also they would be handy for a spare to have around the house and so on..
Available in red, grey and black, the Nokia 130 retails for a global average price of $21.50 excluding taxes and subsidies. Both the Nokia 130 and Nokia 105 are available in Dual and Single SIM variants
THE NOKIA 130
Cast your mind back some time first to the Nokia 130 of old which can be still bought today and it was popular see how its changed inside and out with some specs below.. Will you be picking up either of these devices???
Island keymat with separated keys for greater usability
Tough polycarbonate shell
Standard 3.5mm headphone jack and Micro USB charging port
1.8″ QQVGA display
Single and dual-SIM models available
Nokia Series 30+ software platform
Pre-loaded Snake Xenzia and 5 try-and-buy Gameloft games⁴
Up to 44 hours of FM radio music playback with a headset or up to a month on standby from a single charge
Built-in FM radio and MP3 player
MicroSD card slot allowing for up to 32GB of increased storage
“With more than 4 billion people remaining offline and unable to benefit from the social and economic development opportunities of the internet, simply getting connected by voice and text is still such an important step for many people around the world,” commented Arto Nummela, CEO, HMD Global.
“More than 400 million feature phones were sold globally in 2016. We cannot underestimate the need and benefit of being connected and we are dedicated to delivering devices that can enable many people around the world to expand their horizon.”
THE NOKIA 105
New island keymat with separated keys for greater usability
Tough polycarbonate shell
Standard headphone jack and MicroUSB charging port
Improved 1.8″ QQVGA display
Single and dual-SIM models available
Nokia Series 30+ software platform
Pre-loaded Snake Xenzia game
Resilient battery offering up to 15 hours talk time¹
SME users includefarms, hotels, health surgeries, embassies and even a castle
A recent survey of UK customers by Blink, a leading provider of affordable, wire-free HD home security systems reveals that a high percentage of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are using smart-tech systems to monitor and protect their properties. We here also use such gadjets and find them very usefull and easy to use with little or no tech know how to set such equiment up we can see why these systems are becoming popular.. See our BLINK REVIEW
95 SMEs survey respondents use Blink camera systems to monitor their businesses. This is evidence of an emerging trend of SMEs who are shunning traditionally more expensive and complex business property security measures such as hard-wired, monitored CCTV systems, alarm systems and manned security patrols.
All types of SMEs turning to smart-tech security solutions
The highest proportion of SME respondents (30%) described themselves as “small tech businesses”, followed by “small offices” (17%) and “retail outlets” (12%). SMEs who listed their organisation types as “other” (28%) disclosed what type of business they operate, the range includes: embassies, farms, doctor and dental surgeries, storage facilities, children’s nurseries, hotels, construction sites, landlords, catteries, elderly care homes, police dog kennels and even a castle, all of which are using Blink systems to help secure their business properties.
The average size of the organisation is typically 1 to 5 employees (45%) followed by sole proprietors (28%) and SMEs who have more than 10 employees (20%).
Remote surveillance rated primary reason for purchase
SME respondents rated “keeping an eye on the business while I’m not there” (73%) as the primary reason for having a Blink system at their organisation, followed in second place by “protecting my property from burglary and vandalism” (41%).
Dave Coles, Information Manager, Severndroog Castle elaborated on the use of the Blink technology at the castle: “We rely on technology to underpin and augment the work of our mainly volunteer staff. Our Blink cameras are helping us monitor footfall and provide out of hours security.”
David Laubner, Head of Digital Marketing and eCommerce for Blink, comments: “The benefit to small business owners of using Blink cameras to protect their properties is that they are alerted immediately to any unusual activity via their smartphone. Using Blink in isolation or with other security measures gives SMEs owners peace of mind.
Cloud CIX the largest commercial data centre outside Dublin, has announced ambitious plans to expand its capabilities by 500%, which will be a game changer for the Cork and Munster region.
The development, located in Hollyhill, will be completed in April 2018 – to coincide with Cloud CIX’s tenth anniversary – and will nearly double the footprint of the site to 32,000 square feet. More significantly this extension allows CIX to extend capability from 500kW to 3 MW, making it a significant facility by international standards. The technical specification for the new build is one of the best in the world, allowing clients achieve both high power density and low and industry leading energy efficiency.
Cloud CIX is the EU data centre with the lowest latency (the transit time for a message to reach its destination) to North America, and the Irish data centre with the lowest latency to London, which arguably makes it the best single data centre in the world from which to serve digital assets. This will provide Cork and the Munster region with a competitive advantage for many sectors including Financial Services.
This €6million investment with an expected follow-on investment of a further €6million in IT infrastructure, is the second major expansion since Cloud CIX was established in 2008, and follows the opening of a second data hall in 2014.
With ISO27001:2013 and ISO 9001:20015 registration, Cloud CIX more than 150 small and large clients including Dell EMC, Masterlink Logistics, Bon Secours Hospital Group, Populo, Viatel, and the PM Group. It continues to enjoy rapid growth due to the expanding service offering and the superb connectivity, low latency and a highly resilient network, which are now essential for modern businesses. With the new expansion plans not only will Cloud CIX have enhanced capacity but its team will be able to provide a one stop shop, full suite of turnkey IT services for clients.
Commenting on the expansion, CEO and owner, Jerry Sweeney said
“Since opening the business in 2008, we have seen an amazing increase in the sophistication our customers’ demands from us. Initially we were focused on networking, power and cooling but soon our customers needed managed services. Cyber Security and Cloud Services are the challenges today. At Cloud CIX we anticipate the demands of the marketplace and we continue to invest and deliver capability to match these demands”.
This significant development is big news for Cork and beyond, as it further strengthens the region as an IT power centre, helping to attract even more businesses in the sector to locate here. Jerry Sweeney has also adopted a policy of ‘shopping local’ and has worked with Cork based companies and suppliers wherever possible in the expansion process.
Speaking about Cork, Jerry added
“I really believe Cork has the potential to be a major connectivity centre similar to Marseilles. With twelve major subsea cables, Marseilles connects Europe to Africa across the Mediterranean and via the Suez Canal to the Far East. Cork should focus on becoming a switching centre with connections to North and South America, mainland Europe, and the Far East via the Arctic. With Cork’s existing renewables focused power infrastructure and ever improving subsea connectivity, Cork will attract more data centre business. Cloud CIX continues to lead the way on this path for the region.”
CEO of Cork Chamber of Commerce, Conor Healy said
“We warmly welcome this announcement as we see the enhanced and expanded facility as being a huge asset to the region. Superb online connectivity is an essential ingredient for all businesses today and Cloud CIX have played a significant role in delivering this to the region. The enhanced offering will make the region even more attractive and we will use this as a key selling point when marketing the region to businesses who looking to open new locations”
For more information about Cloud CIX visit www.cix.ie
Tablets are popular and actually beginning to get good and can in some cases replace laptops,this is of course due to the user and their needs and the tides have turned for laptops with and people opting for a bigger tablet instead. I have a few tablets myself and of course my big phones which in most cases keep me away from my laptop.. So like phones we have specs and prices to consider with the iPad being continually been pushed and touted the best there is BUT there is other options and remember how locked down iOS is so it’s not for all and Android tablets out there today are just as good and of course we have Surface which again like what Apple offer overpriced in my book.
I like to use a tablet for either travel or just lazing about the house and this tablet with keyboard is something you will love or hate depending on your needs, If you are power user move along now Im going to get that bit out of the way there is just no point in considering this but as the saying goes you get what you pay for and this is true to form here even though you get a keyboard with it which by the way is a good move rather than like others charge an additional hefty fee like Apple or Microsoft would do just to mention AGAIN…
UNBOXING THE SATURN 10 Pro
This tablet would be ideal for those just browsing at home or using social media it’s by no means a workhorse but then again its the price you pay. If you have kids it’s also ideal this is built like a tank to be fair and it has a bit of weight to it too which can be forgiven but kids will manage just fine.
If you are watching media or Netflix for example it would suffice provided you have strong internet so I cant fully state the constant buffering issues I suffered because my internet is woeful its an ongoing issue i am trying to get sorted. Though this proved an issue once again casting from this table to my TV which even this had severe lagging issues but I can’t entirely blame the tablet..
Where i did notice lag was just doing general tasks even typing,the words would finally catch up with my inputs on-screen which was annoying but it was not a constant issue and again depending how many tabs I had open which is on average 8 to 10 which would be things I would use like social media and email.
The keyboard is actually nice to work on albeit some things moved about but I got over it quickly enough and was able to type like a boss after some use on comparison to my person laptop or desktops here at home. The trackpad was a bit on the slow side even after changing the sensitivity settings and no right-click or longpress like you would find on your standard layout but there is of course other ways to do this which again takes time to become custom to and enjoy the same workflow and speed on your current home set up but overall time heals all shortcomings here.. In some cases found negative repsonses to clicking and found myself using the screen to overcome some of these shortcomings which worked all the time…
The camera and video
OK its dreadful… Yes but for me its not a problem because I am not one of these who like to carry my tablet in the street like a tourist and wave it in the air taking pictures and videos. However this is now becoming a trend you will always see people with their tablets in the air these days and its something to get use to even though it looks ridiculous but that’s how I have always felt about that scenario so don’t take it to heart or personally if you have a tablet in your back you most likely have a phone..
See some samples above along with settings range and judge for yourself.. Again most tablets in fairness fail in this department anyway so its not a dig in itself at the actaul product when you compare to a mobile phone in 2017 and the front facing camera is no better here either with good light comditions you will get a passable photo..
Ports Galore
Its got plenty but nothing comes in the box such as a mini HDMI cable and one highly annoying thing that needs to be wiped out is god dam MAINS PROPRIETRY CHARGING.. You loose your power lead you are done meaning you need to cough up for a new one this is Android albeit and outdated version like….HOWEVER… You can charge via micro USB so all is not lost but it will be a slower process.. One thing which was nice to see was the standard USB port present which can be handy for some folk..
The Screen is not so bright but will suffice again its down to the price but you can enjoy content on it at a satisfactory level. For a 10.1 inch screen there is plenty of estate to get a decent viewing of whatever you might be at be it You Tube or Netflix for example. One annoying thing to note there is no tap to wake or hit key to wake you will need to tap the power key but its not a huge deal but a tad annoying..
The speaker on the rear is “Just OK” I found it very tinny at most levels but overall its fine you have a headphone socket present so this is another option if you dont want to pee off your family or friends with blaring your own prefrences in a room and with headphones the sound is ok actually..
Overall its a tablet you will love or hate and it is unsual for me to have this conclusion and thats how I feel about it Its got many good points and bad ones too but for the price its not a bad buy to be fair but just dont expect to run heavy games or use it for multitasking as it will let you down more often than you think but this is down to whats under the hood ( Spec sheet above) but other than that for the money and if you have kids and just like to browse the web and do social and want something solid this will do the trick and performs quite well at those tasks . What’s an additional bonus here is you get a keyboard with the tablet which comes in cost effectively and not trying to fleece your pockets with an additional purchase like others in the market do.
If you want to pick this up you can buy it now from ASDA
